"Sheep Are an Atonement Offering to God"... Man in His 30s Sentenced to Prison After Burning Wool Blanket in Prayer

[Financial News] A man in his 30s, who became obsessed with the delusion that 'a sheep must be offered to God as a sacrifice for atonement,' set fire to a wool blanket in his home and was sentenced to prison on appeal.
On the 30th, Money Today reported that the Daejeon High Court's Criminal Division 1, presided over by Chief Judge Jin-Hwan Park, sentenced Mr. A (31), who was indicted on charges of attempted arson of an inhabited building, to one year and four months in prison, the same as the first trial.
Mr. A was accused of setting fire to a wool blanket with a lighter in the master bedroom of his residence in Seo-gu, Daejeon, at around 2:35 p.m. on April 7, burning the blanket and the mattress.
During the investigation, it was revealed that Mr. A, who suffers from schizophrenia, believed he needed to burn a lamb as an offering to God to atone for past crimes that led to his imprisonment. Instead of a lamb, he set fire to a wool blanket.
The past crime refers to a conviction in March 2017 for violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth Against Sexual Offenses (quasi-rape), for which he was sentenced to seven years in prison.
During the trial, Mr. A stated, "I recited the Holy Bible while burning the blanket for atonement. I was not aware that the fire could spread to the building and cause public danger," emphasizing that he had no intention of setting the building on fire.
The first trial court accepted this argument and acquitted him of attempted arson of an inhabited building. However, he was found guilty of arson of personal property and sentenced to one year and four months in prison.
Although the Prosecution Service appealed the verdict, the appellate court maintained the original ruling, stating, "There is insufficient evidence to recognize the defendant's intent to set the building on fire. If he intended to burn the building, he would have set fire to other items besides the blanket, but he did not."
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter